[adi_gt]

Originally Posted by Eddy

The quicks were quick (140+ kmph)

I think they haven't met Venkatesh Prasad as yet.

[NPV]

India gifted (dropped catches again) south Africa much more runs than they deserved, helping them get to a decent 335.

K L Rahul disappointed this time and Pujara's Achilles heel continues to be running between wickets and off the first ball!

Keeping fingers crossed for a decent first innings score, hopefully Virat and Vijay will play well.

[dailydriver]

Virat seems to have taken Sehwag's comments seriously.

Virat Kohli should drop himself if he fails at Centurion, says Virender Sehwag

Hope he and Pandya manage to take the team to a decent score.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

Virat seems to have taken Sehwag's comments seriously.


Hope he and Pandya manage to take the team to a decent score.

Sehwag is an idiot these days running his mouth without any thought process. Virat is our best test batsman without any doubt and 1 failure in a test means nothing. Right now it's SA vs Kohli going on and if he stays till lunch tomorrow we will be very close to their score.

What we need to do he is throw Nohit out of test team asap. He is rubbish and only good for limited overs. Rahane needs to come in next match.

[murthy_p]

Saw this on Twitter. Rohit instead of Rahane? that is what happens if you ignore 3,5, 7 year rolling returns and choose fund just based on 2017 performance.

[Sawyer]

Sehwag is doing just what everyone, even those with good intentions, on social media that wants to get attention does - saying outrageous things to draw attention to what he thinks and I agree is a real issue. All he said is that if a single test failure is enough to prompt a change, Kohli should be under the scanner after failures in two tests. The point he is making is that the single failure change is wrong, not that Kohli should be dropped after two consecutive failures. He is saying the latter only to underline the former, which is the point he is making.

We should have played B Kumar and I Sharma instead of Shami and Sharma. Shami is unfit as always and an embarrassment in fielding in addition.

And Rahane has caused himself and India a problem by not paying attention to his batting form in the last six months or more. It isn't enough to claim an overseas record, a good batsman knows how to perform regardless of conditions and failing in Indian conditions alone is just laziness or lack of focus.

[PPS]

Murali Vijay's wicket was the turning point of Day 2. He was playing ok, it is a grafting kind of a pitch. India's aim should be to reach 300 whatever happens!

India will miss Bhuvi, the handy lower order batsman more than the bowler on this pitch.

Rohit Sharma has done enough in this series to be rested for the tour of England next July! But i fear team management will keep giving him more chances.

Our famed batting line-up has been insipid so far. They just don't seem to have the determination or the desire to grind it out. There is an over reliance on Virat. Captain keeps talking of intent but sends Parthiv to bat ahead of in-form Pandya!

Bowler's have done ok so far, but I am still perplexed as to why Umesh Yadav who is supposed to be the spearhead of our bowling attack hasn't played so far.
Shami has been a mixed bag, he bowls a few good overs in a match which isn't enough. We should preserve Bumrah for the ODI's, although he hasn't done anything wrong so far in the 2 tests.

[srishiva]

I think the opener's slot is being treated in a amateurish way. They keep changing the players without much thought.
If there are ODIs played after this, Rohit might yet again become a favourite !

Sehwag was just pointing out what was happening. And I agree with thim 100%.

[naveenvenkatesh]

I still cannot fathom how Bhuvi can be dropped after bowling so well in the first test.

And Shami seems sometimes moody and other times not fit or both! Seems like he bowls one good spell with the old ball but nothing else. Too bad all that talent going to waste.

Nohit The amount of opportunities this guy gets is unbelievable.

Aginkya would be the longest non playing vice-captain ever i think.

Pandya seems to be getting too arrogant of late. The lazy run out should be good enough for severe reprimand or 10 rounds around supersport park!

[WindRide]

Stopped watching cricket the day Dravid retired. Now after many many years, tuned in to the recent SA series and if anything the team seems to be even worse than when the Fab Four played. The same unprofessionalism, same sloppiness and abject middling talent levels. Only Kohli seems to know what he is doing. But i wish he stops behaving like a teenager having a severe case of Premenstrual syndrome. Pandya's attitude is interesting. But even Sreesanth was like that in his early days .Hope Pandya doesn't follow the sreesanth path. Bumrah seems a good talent for future.

I think i will again go off cricket for another 5 years and will check in later if things have improved.

[nilanjanray]

This team has attitude. Good! I won't comment about batting and bowling, there are many experts here. But I do wish the test team players would improve their fielding. The ODI team (and most IPL teams) seem to do a better job :(

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

I do wish the test team players would improve their fielding. The ODI team (and most IPL teams) seem to do a better job :(

It doesn't help the current crop's cause that the generation prior to them had an exceptional bunch of slip & close-in fielders. To think of it, pretty much our entire erstwhile top order belonged to that category, and they're essentially to Test cricket.

Limited overs cricket is a different ballgame, flamboyance and showmanship often rule supreme. Test cricket can be unglamorous, slow and griding, with long periods of nothing happening and then a sudden match-changing (half) chance goes begging because the fielder wasn't concentrating.

[vamsi.kona]

The exclusion of Bhuvi from the team was one selection I was quite surprised with. The pitch is offering some movement off the deck, if not in the air, so he would have been quite handful with the new ball and when the ball starts to reverse. Bumrah and Ishant are slightly similar kind of bowlers who hit the deck hard. So by having Bhuvi, they would have had more variety. And he would have been decent with the bat also. There are too many impulsive selections and changes in the team which isn't good. I am of the opinion, though without any evidence whatsoever, that Sastri has become just the yes man coach for Kohli without putting much challenge to the decisions. Yes, captain should be the final decision maker, but a different opinion, especially from some one who has a calm head would have been wonderful addition to the aggressiveness of Kohli. Kumble was such a person and sadly, who ever was at fault, it didn't last long.

For India to be successful Vijay is very important. In the current team he is amongst the very few batsmen who are completely moulded in the test format and capable of balanced aggression and long innings.

On another note, I wonder how successful we would have been if we had such a strong pace line-up during the time of fab-four or should I say five, because I felt Sehwag was much more important for India than Ganguly in tests.

[PPS]

India just don't seem to cash in on the crucial moments in the game. And that it seems will put them 2-0 behind in the series(hope i'm proved wrong). Do not know if its got to do with lack of practice games or having played too many easy one sided games last year where they weren't tested enough!

Originally Posted by WindRide

But even Sreesanth was like that in his early days

Sreesanth if i remember correctly was our lucky charm. He was a part of quite a few of our wins outside the sub-continent.

[jbpanda]

If the Indian Batsmen were reliable, I would not mind having Bhuvi, Bumrah, Ishant & Umesh along with Pandya and Ashwin. That would add so much of variety and options to the bowling attack. For that we needed a reliable wicket keeper batsman who can actually bat and Rahane in place of Rohit. Hope the Captain doesn't resort to such illogical exclusion while selecting the team.